sanction13

If youve got some old wheel bearings around you can use them as spacers, then tighten the castle nut to pull the shaft through. You'll need to grind the first bearing down a bit so it doesn't seat in the hub.

I agree with GD. I had similar issue with my 82 wagon. Accesories were intermittent. Turned out to be the ignition, if I gave the keys a shake in the ignition they would start working. Might be worth a try.

Well I seem to have gotton rid of the knock!! I'm pretty sure it was caused by the missing wafer/spring washer in the rocker assembly. One other thing I noticed was the LHS rocker assembly was installed on the RHS and vice verca. I installed them back into the correct side. And adjusted the valve lash, which were all way out! Now while the awful knock has gone now I have a constant ch ch ch sound coming from the engine. Do you think this could be caused by re-installing the rocker assemblies to their correct side? Would they have worn in at all in their new positions since the rebuild 40000kms ago? Some of the washers were installed in the incorrect order which I fixed, so maybe when the rebuild was done the rocker assemblies were dis-assembled and re-assembled incorrectly. Possibly mixing up the spacers so LHS really is RHS. I just love incompetance!!! I'm thinking I might swap them back over to see if the ch ch ch goes away. I'm not as worried about the noise it is making now compared to the knock it was making, I thought a piston was about to jump out and say hello!!! Also, I found a good tool for adjusting the valve lash. A drum tuning key for any drum kit. They are spot on perfect size and you can slip the 12mm spanner over it and slide it down to tighten the lock nut. You can get them for under $5 at any music shop that sells drum accessories. Do a google search for 'drum tuning key' if interested. Thanks for all your help with this one guys!!

Disregard question about rocker assembly washers. I can figure it out from the factory parts manual. Thanks

Hi All, I fitted the new plugs, leads dissy cap and rotor. Statred her up and she seemed to run a lot better. Didn't let it run for long though cause I wanted to move on the valve lash/pushrods. As I removed the rocker assembly I found a lot of freeplay in piston 1's intake rocker arm. I compared the build of the rocker assembly to the FSM and found that washers and spring washers were fitted incorrectly. I think whoever rebuilt the engine must have re-assembled these out of order and left some out. This brings me to my next issue. I'll go out to the suby dealer/wrecker tomorrow morning to get the correct washers and spring washers I need. However the diagrams in the FSM has 1 washer/spring washer unlabled. Check out: http://mshoup.us/docs/fsm/EA81/83/Chapter03-Engine.pdf on page 19. On the LHS rocker between part 7 (rocker shaft supporter) and part 8 (Valve Rocker arm CP) On the RHS rocker between part 7 (rocker shaft supporter) and part 11 (Valve Rocker Arm CP2) Can anyone tell me if this part is to be a washer or spring washer?

Thanks guys. Iv'e just bought a new dissy cap, rotor, plugs and leads. So tomorrow morning I'll be up at the crack of dawn and into it!! I figure I'll check valve lash, inspect the pushrods, fit dissy cap, rotor, plugs and leads, start her up and adjust the timing. And see how she goes from there... GD, I take it by ATF you mean automatic transmission fluid. I've never owned an auto, does auto tranny oil have weight specs like manual, if so whats a good weight to use? Thanks guys will let you know how i go tomorrow!

Thanks for the input guys much appreciated! Ricearu, there is a bit of oil on the transmission, haven't been able to get in under there to have a good look yet to see where its coming from. Tom, apart from the squeal which only happens one in five times the clutch and gearbox feels fine. No shudder on takeoff. Twitch, i can't find seafoam here in Australia. When I first got the car I ran a bottle of Wynn's engine flush through it (add to oil, run for fifteen minutes, then perform standard oil change) and then I tried wynn's worn engine treatment (add to oil and leave until next oil change) which seemed to have little effect. I don't know if you have Wynn's products over in the states. With regards to oil pressure, will holding the throttle on while parked raise the oil pressure or does the engine need to be under driving load?? Apart from this knock the engine seems pretty strong, no oil leaks and low mileage. The transmission also seems pretty good, a bit of a crunch getting into second from third but thats pretty standard for this type of transmission. I'm hoping its something simple that can be fixed, otherwise I'll be looking for a decent engine to drop into it!! I'll be taking it past the mechanics tomorrow arvo to see what he thinks. He is also the only wrecker for the older subys so I may haggle for a second hand engine or gearbox off him. I'm hoping he can recognise the knock from previous experience and lead me in the right direction. Otherwise you guys have given me a good idea of what I should be checking! Looks like I'm in for a fun weekend!! Thanks

Thanks Ricearu, to expand on my last post. Once the engine is warm , if I give the throttle a good squirt the knock will start. The knock will continue at idle until I take off, it will clear up by the time I get to the next red light. It will stay quiet at the next red light...until I give it a good rev. Another thing I've noticed is a squeal as I release the clutch while taking off, depending on how gentle I am on the clutch. I assumed this was just a worn out clutch, would loose bolts in the clutch/flywheel cause a squeal noise?? Could this also be causing the knock? I am going to take the car past a Subaru mechanic tomorrow and see if he can recognise the knock. I also have a 89 brumby/brat with an EA81 as well. I am going to swap the ignition parts off it, and adjust the valves/inspect pushrods on the weekend to see if any of these will address the issue.

Thanks Ricearu So I'm guessing I can check if it is piston slap using a compression tester?? Also, I've noticed that the knock doesn't seem to be there while driving. If I pull up at a red light it will be idling nice and quiet. If I give the throttle a squirt the knock will start up again. Once I take off and get to the next red light however far away the knock will be gone again. The engine also seems to be missing a bit but I think this may be due to the dissy cap being pretty worn out. I am saving some $$$ to do the dissy cap, plugs and leads and the fuel and air filter. I would like to figure out this knock first though, to save me pouring cash into a lost cause!

Thanks GD. I will check the valve lash and pushrods this weekend. I showed a couple of guys from work the noise today and they seem to think its in the block, main bearing maybe. Is there anyway I can do a diagnosis on the main bearings without having to tear the engine down? Would a bent pushrod knock constantly or could it be intermittent?

I have a '82 EA81 wagon which I picked up recently nice and cheap with 180000kms on the clock. It wasn't running, just needed a new fuel line and set of points. It was rebuilt at around 130000kms, not sure how meticulous the rebuild was or why it was done. It was parked up for near 6 months before I got to it. Anyway there is a knocking sound coming from the RHS of the engine. The sound is intermittent and seems to only occur once the engine has warmed up. I have tried disconnecting plug leads one at a time to see if the knock will go away but the sound remained. Will disconnecting plug leads reveal noisy valves? I checked the timing on the weekend and it was set to over 20degrees before TDC. I bought this back down to the 8 degrees found in the specs. I have searched threads on here relating to the 'tick of death', I thought this issue only really occured in EA82 engines. I haven't had a chance to check the valve clearances yet, if one is out of spec will it cause a knocking sound? I added a bottle of worn engine treatment today so hopefully if it is a sicky valve that might clean it up a bit. Is there anyway I can do a diagnosis to tell if it is a pushrod? Any advice on how to move forward on this issue will be greatly appreciated. I'd also just like to say thanks to the members who post here, I have owned a few suby's over the years and have often found the answers I needed in this forum!! THANKS

I have a 89 Brumby with an ea81 engine that I am after a bumper replacement bullbar for. I am going to look at a wrecked wagon (around 1983 I think) that apparently has the right type of bullbar, was just wondering what other models would be compatible with the brumby. I was told years ago that they are all compatible, I just dont want to pull my front end apart to find out that the bar wont go on! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all

Does anyone know if it is possible to take a lift kit off a '83 station wagon with a ea81 engine and fit it to a '89 brumby/brat with a ea81. One of my friends recently hit a tree with his wagon and I was hoping to take his lift kit and wheels for my ute. How much modification has to be done to the steering column, accelerator cable, brake line etc? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!